The Baby's Nursery

Well, after long last, here it is! Photos of the new nursery!

With this nursery I wanted it to be a little more calm. Nora's nursery had a lot of bold, primary colors. At first I wanted the same thing for this room as well because I wanted a Dr. Seuss theme (and just TRY to do "Dr. Seuss" without bold colors!!) But then I saw this bedding and knew that bold colors were just not going to be in the cards for this room. I loved the colors of this so-called "gender neutral" bedding a LOT (even though I think it's somewhat boyish, and my husband has been relentlessly teasing me about doing a "gender neutral room" where the primary color theme is taupe, orange, green, and let's not forget pale BLUE.) Anyway, I used the bedding for my inspiration, threw in Dr. Seuss where he fit in, and my vision went on from there to create what you are about to see! :)

I hesitate to really label this room "done" because there are a few more things I would like to do to it (and I probably will at some point.) But this is what it looks like "bare bones" - before we know the gender or name of this child, and certainly before we know what kind of a personality we are blessed with. :) Enjoy!

This is what you see walking into the room. The first thing you should notice is that there is a lot of mismatched wood! :) That's because of two reasons: 1.) I wanted specific, functional "kid" furniture as opposed to "baby" furniture. Kids just grow up too fast to spend a lot of money on baby stuff. And 2.) this is the second-born child! We worked with what we already had, and what we had is this. :)

The paint color was definitely NOT what I thought it would be, but I think it suits this room nicely. It's a really calming neutral color (Valspar's "Winter Oak"). It looks purple in some light, brown in other light, but when all is said and done . . . it's taupe. :)

This is directly to the right of the door, next to the world's smallest closet. :) Here you see a not-so-attractive baby swing that I got for 25 bucks at a resale event when my other one crapped out on us. I would love a different one, but I just can't see me spending the money on another one when this one actually works and we may not use it for long anyway. This part of the room will likely have something up in that empty upper corner very soon - so stay tuned for that. :)

This corner also houses a beautiful book sling from One Step Ahead. I wasn't sure if I would make book slings for this room or not until I saw this. I wanted something I could move around very easily, and this fit the bill. Eventually the swing will be gone from this corner and I would like a little shag rug and some DIY pillows in the corner next to this for a comfy little reading nook. Buuuuuut, not only is the swing in the way, but a newborn really doesn't need a reading nook so for now I haven't done that. (Plus, I haven't found the right rug. :) )

In this corner is also one of two framed puzzles that Nora and I put together. I had bought these intending that they would be played with, but the puzzles are REALLY hard to assemble (and this coming from someone who puts together puzzles a LOT!) So I saw a post online over at Newlywoodwards where she used framed puzzles as decor at a baby shower, and I decided that this was a great idea for my baby's room as well.

Nora LOVED helping me to put these puzzles together and apply Modge-Podge to them. It was one of the first things she got to do for her baby brother or sister. :)

This is the view of the crib, and another framed puzzle. The crib is from Babies-R-Us and is another lifetime-type crib that converts to a toddler bed and full bed as the child gets older. These cribs aren't always the best-looking kid of cribs (I was actually desperately seeking out a differently-styled crib this time around) but they are as practical as they come, so it's hard to imagine us buying anything else.

Here's a close-up of the bedding and the mobile. When I ordered the bedding I had the option of NOT ordering the crib bumper, and I took it! With all the SIDS issues surrounding crib bumpers, I was terrified to let Nora sleep in her crib with a bumper on it. This time around I found a wedge-type bumper online, and I am going to try this one out instead! It looks good, I think - when it came in the mail it was a darker shade of blue, and I bleached it about 5 or 6 times to get it the right color. :) Anyway, it also seems safer to me, and that's what is important.

Also in the crib is a Cat In The Hat toy that Nora used to play with, and a little Horton lovey that I found on clearance at Target. They look great together in the crib. :)

Here's a shot of the other framed puzzle. It took me forever to hang this one up! They are heavier than you would think and I wanted to make sure it was ATTACHED to the wall. It is!

This is a "toy bookcase" from Target that matches the one we bought for Nora this past year. It has been awesome in her room for corralling and organizing her toys, so there is now another one in baby's room! Right now there are not a whole lot of toys to wrangle, so this bookcase is currently housing some toys, but mostly swaddlers, boppy covers, sheets, receiving blankets, and the like.

This art is from the same set of cards that are hanging on Nora's wall. I love the way they look, and I love what they say! Bonus. :)

I think I picked up the bins that are on the shelves at Garden Ridge. I LOVE them - they are so handy and sturdy. Someday I may put labels on them or designs, but I like being able to change out what's in them for now. You can also see the skinny "hamper" that is actually for stuffed animals on the side of the bookcase.

This photo shows the 2 Thirty-One bins that are currently being used for toy/boppy storage. I am sure those bins will hold different things over the years! You can also see the undressed window. I don't have any curtains in my house because I hate laundering them, but I do have an idea for a window decoration in this room that probably won't make an appearance soon, but maybe someday. ;)

Here you see the rocking chair that belonged to my grandma. I mentioned in Nora's nursery post that I never used this rocker because it was "creaky and uncomfortable". This time around I am determined to use it - so I set out on the hunt for a rocking chair pad. I found one I loved at Carousel Designs that completely matched the decor, but I was NOT about to pay the $89 price tag!! Luckily Carousel Designs sells their fabric, so I purchased some so that I could sew my own pad.

I found this outdoor pad on clearance at Garden Ridge, and I picked it up, thinking I would cut the ties and use it for a nap mat for one of the kids I sit for. I noticed not long after I bought it that it just happened to fit the rocking chair pretty well, so I covered it in quilt batting and sewed a cover with ties for it. It works great so far! Very comfortable and I like the fabric from Carousel Designs a LOT. Also the pad is really secure and doesn't go anywhere when my three year old climbs up in the chair. :) I also sewed the above-pictured nursing stool cover out of the blue accent fabric - it was pretty easy to make and took no time at all. All in all, I made my own rocking chair pad AND a stool cover for less than half of the price they were asking at Carousel Designs for just the pad, so I call that a WIN! :)

I had a different kind of art on the wall up here, but I hated it. So I just used some scrap fabric and embroidery hoops to create this art. I like it WAY better - and I plan on personalizing it a bit more when the baby arrives. The fabric is special too because there is not only fabric from this room, but some from Nora's room and some from a taggie I made for cousin Benny, who will be very close in age to our second-born. There is also some scrap fabric from various things that I have made for other friend's children as well. :)

Here is the changing area. The dresser is actually part of the bedroom set that belongs to Cory and I. It's the longest dresser! I have tried every which way I can think of to fit it in our Master bedroom, but no-go. So here it has been since we moved in and here it will likely stay! It's a great dresser, and I am kind of jealous that my kid gets to use it and not me! :)

These shelves were inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest, and Cory built, sanded, primed, and painted them not too long ago. I think they turned out GREAT! They are currently holding some old Dr. Seuss books of Cory's and some art I printed off of the internet. I also hung some small bins from the shelves using Command Hooks, and I am using them for diaper rash cream, binkies, etc. I had to use leather straps instead of the original ribbon on the bins to keep them from moving around too much, but so far I have used them to hold some things for my babysitting kids (who get their diapers changed in here) and they work very well.

In this photo you see a special picture frame that says "Me and My Big Sister" on it. You also see the Diaper Depot - a handy little changing table organizer that I used with Nora. I recently found an on-the-wall changing area organizer that would work really well in this room, so I may get that one and use it instead - but for now, this is what it looks like.

And that's the nursery! I have at least three other significant things I would like to do in this room, some of which I have mentioned, but for now I am sitting back and taking it easy for much of the rest of this pregnancy - HA! Like I could ever get a moment to do that. :) Hope you all enjoyed the photos.

Until next time . . .